282 Trails to Woods and Waters 



object, very much excited, but seemed to be 

 rather afraid of their game. 



At the sight Ben rushed forward and began 

 whipping the dogs back with a switch that he 

 broke from a near-by bush. 



In the dim light I could not just make out 

 what the queer game was, but Ben shouted, 

 " It's a porcupine, Harry. We came just in 

 time to save the dogs." 



" Would he eat them? " I asked in my igno- 

 rance. 



Ben laughed. " Worse than that," he re- 

 plied. " He would fill them full of quills." 



Then I went up close and we examined the 

 queer fellow to our hearts' content. 



I had never seen a porcupine before, a 

 hedgehog being the nearest approach that I 

 had known to this wonderful wilderness freak. 



The hedgehog is first cousin to the porcu- 

 pine, but much smaller. 



This specimen that Ben and I were exam- 

 ining would weigh twenty-five pounds and 

 was covered with quills three or four inches 

 long. Ben told me that they were barbed, so 



